Last Month’s Reflection: A Change Of Heart + Regaining My Footing | August & September Reflection
//The Best Month I’ve Had This Year
This has easily been the best month I’ve had this year. I don’t know about you, but 2017 has been a pretty “blah” year in terms of my life. 2016 was definitely a memorable year for me, but I don’t see 2017 as a year that I will remember for years to come. It seems more like a transitional year between starting college and graduating college. I can already feel that 2018 is going to be a lot more interesting. (I’m sick of typing the word “year” already)
The year started to get a pick me up in mid-August when Sophomore year started. I felt this sense of renewal that always comes at the start of a new school year. I had a packed schedule, I was working more than ever before, and I was super consistent when it came to blogging. Even so, I was super busy through the beginning of September. I could tell that I was going to burn out soon, but I found a method to prevent that.
That’s the reason this month has been so great. Even though I have more work than ever before, I don’t feel as exhausted. This has been a very full and productive month. One thing that really struck me was that this is the first month I feel like I’ve been living up to my word of the year.
Related – How To Prevent College Burnout: Motivation, Productivity, And Self-Care Tips
//My Word Of The Year Recap
If you recall, I wrote a post at the beginning of the year talking about my goals. I had never done a word of the year before. Hell, I’d never set new years resolutions, but since I was in the middle of my first year blogging, I decided to jump on the bandwagon.
My word of the year was hustle. It seemed like the perfect word for my goals this year. I wanted to expand my business and this blog. I needed to work hard in order to do all the things I said I was going to do. I had an idea of how I wanted to feel and what I wanted to do, but that didn’t come to fruition until a few months ago.
I have reached more of goals in the last three months than I have in the last year.
I am truly in the headspace I want to be in. I am at a productivity level I am proud of. While I can tell that I won’t reach every goal I set for this year, I’ve done more than I would’ve if I hadn’t set those goals to begin with. I’ll go more into this in the next section.
Related – 2017: The Year Of Hustle (My 2017 Goals)
//My Current Life Categories
As a college student, my life naturally falls into these five categories.
School
I am not joking when I say that I had THIRTEEN exams/test grades last month. Most were actual exams, but some were test grades like case studies or videos for ASL. It was a crazy month schoolwise, and I would like to acknowledge the fact that I did F***ING awesome!!!
I was so on top of everything this month and I didn’t get a single bad grade. There was one test grade that I was 100% sure I bombed but ended up getting a B+. (That test was definitely curved.)
That anomaly aside, I did really well with everything else. I was organized with my studying, I turned everything in on time and still managed to have time to do everything else on this to-do list.
Work
I don’t usually talk about my job online, but basically, I was working with a lot more people this month and my income has grown considerably. That also means that I’ve been working more hours.
My weekends have been packed, but I did a much better job at preventing work from taking up my weekends. September was not a good month for me on that count because work filled my schedule so much that I had very little social time.
Blog
I blogged twice a week almost every week. The big accomplishment here is that I didn’t beat myself up about it. A year ago, I would’ve guilted myself so much over missing a single deadline or not following my editorial calendar, but I didn’t this month.
I also haven’t been obsessing over stats because I know that views go down in the fall, then spike back up again in December, so I’m not worried. This has also given me a lot more creative freedom in the posts I’ve been writing because I’m not spending a lot of time writing college tips posts that readers won’t click on at around this time, anyway. It’s harder to write personal posts because they aren’t wrapped up perfectly in a bow like “how-to” posts, but I love reading them on other blogs and want to start writing more here.
Related:
- On Living For The Future | The Collegiate Life Crisis
- The Glorification Of Busy | One Month Into Sophomore Year Update
- Spontaneity Doesn’t Come Naturally To Me
- 7 Things People With Special Needs Siblings Understand
- Knowing You Can Never Leave | On Growing Up With A Special Needs Sibling
My biggest accomplishment this month in terms of this blog was FINALLY doing a blog photo shoot. The pictures turned out great and I’m in the process of adding them to older posts. Here’s a link to the album I put on the blog’s Facebook Page.
Aside from that, I’ve been making plans for Making My Way next year. I haven’t had the time or inspiration to take it to the next level. I really want to create a free resource library to grow my email list. I also want to write an e-book or e-course next year. Tell me if you have any topic suggestions
(Click Here For Some Of My Blogging Tips)
Social
I did so many fun things last month. I had plans almost every weekend. I went to Atlanta Pride for the first time. It was so fun! At the beginning of the month, I went on my brother’s field trip to the pumpkin patch. We went through a corn maze, which is something I’ve never done before. I also slept over at my friend’s new apartment in Athens after watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Those were three big highlights of last month. It was great to have breaks to spice up my regular weekly routine.
Self-Care
The only reason I haven’t gone insane yet is that self-care has been a huge priority. There were a few nights where I was having trouble falling asleep which happens every few weeks, but it hasn’t been that bad.
I wrote a whole post on self-care in college and creating a self-care plan, which is why I won’t go too much into it now. I’ll link it below. I’ve basically just been prioritizing sleep, taking care of myself, exercising, etc this month.
Related – How To Create A College Self-Care Plan (Plus A Look At Mine)
//The Setback
Of course, after such a great month, the Universe couldn’t let it end on a high note. I injured my back while working out in the last week of October, which stunted by productivity by a lot. I skipped my last class, went home, and laid down. It lasted for over a week and I could barely walk. No, that’s an exaggeration. I could walk. It was just extremely painful.
I only did things I had deadlines for that week, which put blogging and some school work on the backburner. That really stunk because I felt so energized throughout the month, only for that energy to disappear at the end of it. I’m trying to get it back now that it’s the beginning of November and I’ll REALLY need it this month.
If you want to know, my back is better now. I plan on going back to the gym tomorrow after a two-week break. I’m excited about that because I’ve been getting lazy and will lose my workout habit if I don’t go back to the gym soon.
//Looking Forward To November
This month is going to be crazy. I’m going to Charleston, South Carolina this weekend for Yallfest then I have to get straight to work on Sunday to make up the work I missed Friday and Saturday. The next weekend I’m going down to Orlando to visit family and go to Disney World with a close friend of mine. It’s going to be awesome.
In between that, I have a lot of school assignments and exams that come with the week before Thanksgiving and finals. It’s not as bad as October, but I’m working hard this week to prepare for that and schedule out blog posts, as well. I’m so glad I only have a case study and a video due this week because this gives me time to get ready for the world-wind that is this month.
I’m also super behind on a special project I plan on launching at the beginning of December. I hope I’ll be able to get everything done in time.
And finally, I’ll be turning 20-years-old this month. I can’t believe it. I have a little less than three weeks left of being a “teenage” adult. My friend Cindy turned 20 a few days ago. She was so ready to turn twenty, but I don’t know if I feel that way. Being in my 20s just seems so much more serious even though my life won’t have to change that much (Yet). I think that there’ll be more pressure to “grow up.”
Even so, I’m excited. I love my birthday. Especially since it’s during Thanksgiving Break (It’s not on Thanksgiving Day this year).
I hope you’ve enjoyed this long-winded reflection. This post would’ve been a little longer if I went into all the existential thoughts I had in the week that I was injured, but I’ve decided to write another post for that.
Until next time….
Related: The Glorification Of Busy | One Month Into Sophomore Year Update
(P.S. I’ve been trying to think of an Outro for my blog posts because I can’t find a way smooth to end them. But I guess my Outro is that I don’t have an outro.)
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